A car bomb attack occurred near the residence of acting Defense Minister Gen. Bismillah Mohammadi at around 8pm (local time) in downtown Kabul on Tuesday evening, followed by sporadic gunfire and hand grenade blasts.

The attack happened in the Shirpoor area of Kabul’s District 10, an area crowded with houses owned by high-ranking government officials.

In an interview with Russian media, former president Hamid Karzai said the Taliban “will be defeated” by Afghans and the people will confront them and will form an uprising against them if the group continues its violence.

“If the Taliban continue to oppose that--this would be confronted but I want this confrontation to be political, not military,” Karzai said in an interview with Russia’s RTA. “They must agree to that or they will be defeated. The Afghan people will rise against them.”